Kyung-Wha Chung, Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle - Beethoven: Symphony no.5 in C minor / Brahms: Violin Concerto in D (2001)

Toscanini has been called the exact interpreter of what's written in the notes, Furtwängler the discoverer of what's written between the lines. Simon Rattle attempts to combine both: strict adherence to the score with an unfettered emotional response to the music. In the Fifth Symphony, guided by the latest scholarship, he uses Beethoven's own scoring rather than later emendations, which produces unusual transparency as well as some surprises. For example, since Beethoven' hand-horn could not negotiate key changes fast enough, he gave the exposition's horn solo to the bassoon in the recapitulation; today's conductors let the modern valve-horn play both passages. Rattle goes back to the bassoon, which, though authentic, sounds so puny that one feels sure Beethoven would have approved the change.

The first movement is very fast and stormy, the second strict and inflexible, the third unyielding in rhythm but full of swells; the Finale begins with a crash. This live recording displays all the qualities of the orchestra, as well as its amazing adaptability to the idiosyncrasies of Rattle's style: the unbridled impetuosity, all-out passion, extreme tempi, and dynamic contrasts that alternate between inaudible and ear-splitting and result in some rough, almost raucous playing. In the Brahms, too, excess prevails. Chung is a wonderful violinist with a brilliant technique and a beautiful, austere, radiant tone. Her playing is inherently noble and flexible, with lots of character and expression. In this performance, however, she exaggerates changes of tempo and dynamics; the chords are scratchy, the liberties not spontaneous enough. But the lyrical passages are lovely, the Finale is a real dance, and the interplay between soloist and orchestra is splendid. -- Edith Eisler